Kohli and Rahane have looked commanding in their partnership so far.

Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane have carried India to a position of strength in the second match of Asia Cup 2014 against Bangladesh with an unbeaten 100-run partnership, and bringing down the required run rate to about 6 runs an over.

Both the batsmen joined at the centre after the Indian openers disappointed yet again, as they failed to give India the ideal start, but India’s No 3 and No 4, Kohli and Rahane have turned the tables during the stay in the middle, as they have completely deflated the spirit of Bangladeshis who are looking lacklustre and tired in the field since the last few overs.

Kohli started off in his typical attacking fashion, and brought up his fifty in almost run-a-ball. Rahane, on the other hand took his time to settle down early on, but then started to hit some glorious shots around the wicket, complementing the Kohli-show at the other end.

With these two in the middle, India are cruising towards their target of 280, as Kohli is providing another chasing masterclass and racing along towards another 100 in ODIs.

After a rather poor performance with the ball, India didn’t start too brightly with the bat as well. Both the Indian openers were stiffled by the Bangladeshi pace duo of Mashrafe Mortaza and Rubel Hossain. They kept things tight, and didn’t let Dhawan or Rohit to free their arms.

Both the batsmen initially found the going very tough as they could manage just 13 off the first six overs. Rubel Hossain and Mashrafe Mortaza delivered back to back maiden overs early on, but then Dhawan hit a few boundaries to break the deadlock. Rohit, on the other hand, seemed troubled or most part of the first 10 overs, before he finally danced down the track to Mortaza in the ninth over for a huge six straight down the ground.

But Dhawan’s stay didn’t last long, as he fell to Abdur Razzak in the veteran spinner’s first over. Dhawan could just manage 28 off 44 balls. His dismissal has brought captain Virat Kohli to the centre, who will borne all the Indian hopes of a win in this match.

Soon after Dhawan was dismissed, Rohit too lost his wicket off the very next over to Ziaur Rahman, who clean-bowled the Indian opener with an inswinger which jagged back a distance.